Drill

Plans by McMoRan Exploration to drill a 30,000-foot well in South Louisiana could herald a new era of drilling at depths greater than 22,000 feet in the state, said Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle.

Pennsylvania officials are renewing their effort to get fellow members of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to agree to revised water quality regulations that could ultimately open the basin to expanded Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Thursday directed the Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) to conduct a live drill this summer of its $1 billion oil spill containment system, which was developed following the the Macondo well blowout and deadly rig explosion in in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in 2010.

Seeking to create a uniform standard for how the oil and gas industry in the Appalachian Basin goes about drill site planning, developing and restoring the landscape once operations are complete, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has released its first Recommended Practices (RP) report.

Consol Energy Inc. began its shift toward liquids in the first quarter, moving into the wet-gas portions of the Marcellus and Utica shales of southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

After a record-setting 2011, North Dakota continues to set all-time highs in oil and natural gas production, producing wells and rig counts, according to the latest statistics from the state’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

A judge in New York State has ruled that an ordinance and a zoning requirement enacted last year by the town of Dryden, NY, essentially banning all Marcellus Shale oil and gas activities in the municipality, are not preempted by state law and can remain in effect.

Petsec Energy Ltd. has agreed to pay 35% of the costs to drill at least one well and as many as three others in a shale oil project in Alberta in exchange for a 24.5% working interest in shale oil leases covering 17,280 acres, the Sydney, Australia-based independent said. The seller was not disclosed.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) CEO Stephen Chazen last Wednesday said the permitting process to drill in California has been streamlined, and he credited Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for the turnaround.